Two techniques typically used to clean floor carpets, rugs and the like are wet cleaning, such as hot water extraction or so-called "steam cleaning" and shampooing, and dry cleaning. For dry cleaning carpets, a cleaning fluid is sprayed onto the carpet and a pad is rotated over the carpet to work the cleaning solution into the carpet and thereby remove the dirt, and to absorb the dirty cleaning solution from the carpet. The dry cleaning technique has the advantage over the wet technique in that it does not soak the carpet and any underlying padding, and thereby does not damage the carpet and padding.
One type of apparatus which has been used for dry cleaning carpets is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,622 to B. L. Cutler, issued Oct. 20, 1981 and entitled "Framework Holder For Attaching Container To Floor Machine". This apparatus includes a base having a flat, circular pad holder across its bottom. A motor is mounted on top of the base and drives a shaft for rotating the pad holder. A handle extends from the base to permit the apparatus to be moved across a carpet. A container is mounted on the motor and contains a dry cleaning liquid solution. A pump is mounted in the container to pump the dry cleaning solution from the container to a spray nozzle on the container which sprays the carpet ahead of the apparatus. A dry cleaning pad is mounted on the bottom of the pad holder. The pad has portions which scrub the dry cleaning solution into the carpet to remove the dirt, and portions which soak up the dirty dry cleaning solution. One such pad is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,438 to B. L. Cutler, issued Dec. 6, 1983, entitled "Rotary Carpet Cleaning Pad".
It is desirable that the cleaning solution container be mounted on the motor so that the container can be easily and quickly removed and be replaced on the motor. This is to allow for draining and cleaning of the container, and also to allow for changing to different types and sizes of the container. Although the mounting means for the cleaning solution container shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,622 does allow the container to be removed and replaced, it requires the releasing and tightening of straps which can be somewhat time consuming. Also, if the straps holding the container to the motor are not tight enough, the container can move about and is not firmly secured in place to the motor. Therefore, it is desirable to having a mounting means for the solution container which allows for quick and easy removal and replacement of the container on the motor, and which firmly holds the container in place on the motor.